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The number of infections from a hospital superbug could be “significantly reduced” with the development of a new non-toxic cleaning product, researchers have said.
Byotrol has been found to reduce the presence of Clostridium difficile and other healthcare-associated infections, according to a study by the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI).
In areas cleaned with Byotrol, C difficile was present in 20.4% of the sites tested, compared to 27.8% of the sites cleaned with traditional chlorine bleach.
The research, supervised by NHS organisation TrusTECH, shows the number of patients who developed diarrhoea due to the potentially fatal bug was 50% lower in the wards cleaned with the new product.
The interim results come from the first fifteen weeks of a study run in four hospital wards within the MRI. Two of the wards in the study are being cleaned using Byotrol and the other two are being cleaned with bleach.
The research, which is expected to conclude in 2009, has looked at the total number of bacteria and the levels of MRSA and C difficile on frequently touched surfaces in the wards.
Dr Richard Deed of TrusTECH said: “These results show that it is possible to drive significant reductions in one of the most persistent and challenging micro-organisms found within the healthcare system.”
Copyright Press Association 2008
